Very interested to see how this works! I’ve been trying to expand my business and a half decent vinyl cutter is about 2500$ I enlisted in a government program and have a chance at getting up to a 5000$ grant but I don’t want to sit back and put all my pennies that I get it. Wondering if the Xcarve could cut some simple vinyl stickers.
oh really?! Vcarve desktop?
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Check out http://www.uscutter.com/ I got a cheap unit, I think about $300.00, about 6 years ago used it almost every day since without issue. Except for the occasional software issue.
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I ordered a few of these cutter heads years ago they didn’t fit my machine.
The gold inner piece is .280 turned down to .250 it would be perfect.
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Wait… What’s the story behind this?..
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Cricut (hobby vinyl cutters) just released a new machine and a couple of new cutters
that you may be able to somehow rig up
You can set up a drag knife in vcarve, but the drag knife gadget is only available in Vcarve Pro. Desktop does not support gadgets.
Phil, just remember. There is a reason for bearing on it. Your design direct connected to router and router shaft is not free to turn. At least there are brushes to make brake on it.
I think you may have to add bearing on it and that bearing must be clean of the oil/grease. That gives free turn to knife.
Let me know if I’m wrong. Watching your perfections closely as always.
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I’ve seen these and was tempted to get one just to start out with. But I still believe you get what you pay for and figure I’d run into a whole ton of issues. If this grant falls through though I think is definitely look into It!
I’ve been cutting vinyl decals with my Silhouette Cameo for years and highly recommend it. My Jeep (the Maker Mobile is covered in decals). In fact, I’m doing a large painted banner and several t-shirts this morning. Don’t waste money on the new version. The old version works great. The whole thing, including the decal material will get you up and running for less than $300.
With that being said, I’m definitely looking forward to @PhilJohnson nailing this design and adding that functionality to the XC1000…
Keep in mind this will require an absolutely flat/smooth waste board and possibly a self-healing mat of some kind.
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How do the shirts turn out? Just recently found out you could cut vinyl and heat press them on. Not sure How the quality of them is though. Another thing I’d consider making especially with the amount of sports teams in my area
What was the dewalt set at?
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Now that’s funny. Wrong in so many ways but funny. Definitely made my day.
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Here is the mount I made for the inexpensive drag knife shown above. Used it for the first time this week to cut some thin craft foam I glued to the back of come wood coasters. Worked surprisingly well.
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How thick was the foam?
I’m from the old school screen printing world, which makes a nice, durable shirt that you can wear for decades, so it’s taken me a bit of time to accept vinyl heat transfer which feels a bit more cheap to me. With that being said, it’s much easier and you can get better detail than the painful screen printing process. They’re also very solid colors which is great for some designs, but more difficult to get a distressed look. I don’t currently have a heat press, so had to make the shirt with a household iron, which might not do the best at adhering the vinyl to the shirt, but they turned out great. Lots of compliments at the party…
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I used to work in a shop that cut and made vinyl t-shirts. I still have a few that are approaching 15-20 years old, and still look good.
I have some shirts with vinyl designs I’ve had for about 8 years, so it does last pretty well.
I do use a proper heat press to apply them though so that will probably make their lifespan longer